


Run Through the Jungle

by jujitsuelf



Category: The Losers (2010), The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Vietnam War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 17:05:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5792791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jujitsuelf/pseuds/jujitsuelf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a long night ahead of them, the Losers bed down to get what rest they can before the next day's patrol. Sleeping in the jungle is never easy and Jensen can't turn his brain off enough to rest. Coping with the stress of Vietnam is driving him slowly nuts, but is he the only one suffering?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run Through the Jungle

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer – All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended  
> ***  
> Title from the mighty Clearwater Credence Revival.  
> ***

Jensen hated the jungle. Being in the jungle was worse than any other combat environment he’d encountered. 

It was wet and hot and stifling, his clothes clung to him and stank of sweat and sour apprehension. It was impossible to move easily, no path was clear, at least no path that a sane man wanted to walk. If it was clear, it was booby-trapped; simple as fuck. Decisions weren’t easy. However well he thought he was growing to know the terrain, the enemy knew it better, could move within it like spirits, attacking and vanishing with impunity. Animals peered from trees, their calls sending shivers down his spine in the dead of night while millions of many-legged things crawled into his boots and up his sleeves.

There were eyes everywhere. Animal and human, all watching his every move, waiting for him to make a mistake. One mistake would get him killed, would get his whole team killed. What kind of rat bastard did that to the guys who had his back? It’d be nothing but murder; low, bloody murder, deep in a steaming jungle a million miles away from the freezing winters of New Hampshire and the comforting reality of home. 

Home, home; did home even exist any more? Was the USA still there? Was there still a war? Or had everyone else had enough and gone away? Was his team the only one left hacking their way through the jungle, straining to reach a goal that just didn’t exist any longer? Had the rest of the US military realized they were fighting shadows, trying to shoot ghosts and monsters, caught in an unending cycle of patrol, watch, explore, report. Sleep, wake, move, fear. Fear, fear, fear, bloody fear, fear all the time, eyes in the trees...

“Jensen,” a low voice penetrated the building nightmare as a hand on his shoulder shook him awake.

Jensen startled into full awareness, his heart thundering in his chest and cold sweat stinging the cuts on cheeks, souvenirs from yesterday’s march through trees that seemed bent on whipping into his face every five seconds.

It was still dark, he’d probably only been asleep an hour, two at most. But sleep was elusive, the constant nagging fear made sure of that. 

“You good?” Cougar’s eyes were stark black pools, the tiredness of yet another patrol adding years to him. But the hand on Jensen’s shoulder was firm and strong, Cougar hadn’t found his limit yet. 

“Yeah,” Jensen nodded, rubbing exhaustion from his own eyes and sitting up. “Time?”

“Three,” Cougar murmured, glancing around the little makeshift camp. 

Jensen followed his gaze, taking in Roque’s bulk; he never had trouble sleeping, Pooch’s wakeful but detached face; he was miles away talking to Jolene and planning a wedding, Clay; more weary than ever, the lines on his face deepening by the hour, but still solid and dependable, a proper commanding officer.

Something crawled up Jensen’s arm, he brushed it away and swore softly. 

Cougar’s mouth twitched into something that might have been a smile if they were anywhere else in the world. 

Deep inside Jensen some desperate want ached, what he’d give to be with Cougar. Everything about the man entranced him, ensnared him, took up nearly all of his considerable brain capacity. What they could do together if only they weren’t caught in this hellhole of a war.

He was staring, he knew it. Cougar gazed back, steady and unblinking. 

The trees overhead shook as something climbed through them, the muggy air barely disturbed by its passing. Jensen wiped sweat from his face and knew the moment was shattered. Fucking animals, their timing was shit.

Wordlessly, Cougar held out a canteen and Jensen let the lukewarm water trickle down his throat, grateful for the distraction.

“Sleep,” Cougar muttered, pulling his hat down low over his eyes and turning away.

Jensen obediently lay back down, pillowing his head on his pack, but knew sleep wouldn’t come. His mind was awake and it would take more effort than he possessed to make it quiet down enough to really rest. Instead he lay still, ignoring the humid air and questing bugs, watching Cougar.

Without Cougar, maybe he’d go nuts. Plenty of other guys had already cracked under the strain of Vietnam, but they didn’t have Cougs. They couldn’t look into those still black eyes and see a perfect life all mapped out. They didn’t have the knowledge that when all else failed, Cougar could still make an insane shot and save the day. They didn’t have every cell in their bodies longing to just touch him and feel the hard muscles beneath his sweat-soaked uniform. No, Jensen wouldn’t go nuts, not as long as Cougar was around.

After what seemed like hours but was probably minutes, Cougar glanced over at Jensen. For a heartbeat his usual mask of blank imperturbability vanished, his eyes were worried and the strain showed on his face. He watched Jensen, Jensen watched him back, their gazes locked.

Cougar looked away first, Jensen blinked. Wow. That had never happened before.

A tiny smile flit across Cougar’s lips, barely there before it was gone but Jensen saw it and knew what it meant. He wasn’t the only one relying on someone else to keep his sanity in tact. The great and powerful Cougar was as close to the abyss as he was himself. Imagine that.

The trees shivered as some unseen creature clambered through them, Clay sniffed and shifted position, head cocked as he listened to the animal’s progress. Pooch stretched and yawned and Roque grunted in his uninterrupted sleep. Whatever it was up in the canopy went on its way, not interested in the little group of men down on the ground. 

Jensen swatted flying things away from his face and forced himself to close his eyes. They were moving before daybreak so he needed all the rest he could get before it was his turn on watch.

A moment later he opened them again, sleep was being a fickle bitch until he voiced the thoughts chasing themselves around his brain. Cougar was sitting motionless, a dark statue carved from the wood of the trees surrounding them. Jensen wriggled over, earning himself a weary glance from Clay. 

He poked Cougar’s hip and flashed a forced smile as Cougar stared at him. “Y’know my sister makes the best chicken stew you ever tasted? And she bakes these cakes, man, I don’t know what she does but they’re better than drugs. When I get home I’m gonna eat from dawn till dusk and listen to Hendrix and make the neighbors disapprove of me.”

Cougar was silent for half a minute, then nodded and muttered, “Good idea.”

“My sis has a spare room,” Jensen hadn’t meant to put it so bluntly but he’d never had much control over what came out of his mouth. “If you wanted it.”

Cougar gazed at him again, eyes searching Jensen’s, probably expecting a joke of some kind. 

“We’re going home, Cougs,” Jensen murmured. “And we’re gonna eat my sister’s stew and every cake she bakes and we’ll never set foot in a jungle again. We’re going home and we’re gonna be okay.”

“We’re all going home,” Clay said, his voice a rumble in the dark. “And I’ll be expecting an invite to your sister’s place, Jensen. Stew and cake sound pretty good.”

Jensen smiled, genuine this time. “Sir, yes, sir.” He looked back at Cougar, who was staring up into the trees. “Stew and cakes at my sister’s place. Okay?”

“Okay,” Cougar replied. 

Jensen shuffled closer and whispered, “It’s a date.”

Cougar shot him a sideways glance and raised his eyebrows. “Sure.”

Jensen wriggled back to his pack and lay down, his mind quieter. Stew and cakes at home. It was a decent goal to aim for. Enough to keep him going for a while longer, at least. Hopefully enough to keep Cougar going, too.

Tiredness swept through him with sudden crashing force. His eyes fluttered shut and his worries vanished as he slipped into exhausted, dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> *insert usual shameless plea for feedback here*
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
